Jim McCann's story embodies the classic American dream. In his twenties living in Queens, NY and working in social services, McCann was tending bar in Manhattan on the weekends to supplement his not-for-profit income. In between making drinks and chatting with customers, McCann's thoughts would turn to his future. He enjoyed social work but didn't envision it as a long-term career; he had worked in the trades while helping his dad, a painting contractor; he'd worked in retail shops; and had even considered becoming a cop.

A regular at the bar mentioned he was getting ready to sell his flower shop. McCann was intrigued. He asked if he could spend a few Saturdays working with him to see what the business entailed.

The emotions a bouquet of flowers can evoke were real to McCann as he remembered as a teenager bringing flowers to his first girlfriend. When she opened the door and saw the brilliant blooms, she broke into the biggest smile he had ever seen, grabbed him, and gave him a kiss. Powerful.

"I think my future was sealed right there, even though it would be another 10 years before I took the plunge into full-fledged entrepreneurship, or more accurately, semi-fledged entrepreneurship," he writes in his book, Stop and Sell the Roses: Lessons from Business & Life.

He ended up buying the flower shop. One shop turned to two, two to three, until he had amassed 14 shops in New York City. To say his days were long is an understatement as he continued to work full time at St. John's Home for Boys in Rockaway, NY. It was hard to turn his back on these street-tough city kids who were making as much of an impact on him as he was on them.

"I learned the importance of relationships and emotional contact from those ten boys," explains McCann, a distinguished 58-year-old, who exudes warmth and confidence, forgoing a handshake for a hug—a tenet he bases his business on.

"Our competitors are all about sales, we're about relationships. We help our customers connect with the important people in their lives through flowers and other gifts created for that specific relationship, occasion, and sentiment."

He proudly reports that last year, 1-800-Flowers.com, the world's leading florist and gift shop, racked up more than $800 million in sales.

Party Line

Today, not only does the company feature flowers but gourmet gifts like popcorn and specialty treats from The Popcorn Factory; cookies and baked gifts from Cheryl & Co.; premium chocolates and confections from Fannie May; wine gifts from Ambrosia and Geerlings & Wade; and gift baskets from 1-800-Baskets.com.

His most recent endeavor takes relationships and celebratory events one step further at www.celebrations.com, an interactive community that offers expert advice and party planning tools. Different than his other products as there is no e-commerce component, this is a site for customer engagement.

"We are turning our company inside out," he acknowledges. "It's run by our customers for our customers. The lines between a staff person and a customer have blurred. We are allowing our customers to become a part of what we do."

The impact an individual can have can be seen in a letter sent by an Ohio-based customer five years ago. "She included a photo of a flower arrangement she and her sister tried to make for their younger sister's bridal shower in a cocktail glass. She wrote, 'Mr. McCann, as you can see it didn't come out that great but I bet your designers can figure out how to do this right.'" McCann made her an integral part of creating "Happy Hour," the most successful floral product line in the company's history. Margarita, cosmopolitan, and martini glasses, even beer mugs, are filled with colorful flowers.

After creating the product, McCann turned to his customers for advice on how to advertise and market the line. "We have a limitless virtual creative department by tapping into our 35 million customers," McCann declares.

Techno-Savvy

Implementing the latest technological advances in his business has been instrumental to his success. A key move was when he paid about $7 million for the assets of a struggling company, ATC, that included a toll-free phone number, 1-800-Flowers. His gamble paid off creating an entirely new way to sell flowers nationwide, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This groundbreaking concept resulted in McCann's tiny chain of flower shops transforming into a nationwide powerhouse.

"I wanted to build the biggest company I could in the retail flower business. I thought this was a game-changer in terms of how quickly we could grow. People thought I was crazy. I heard that no one would call an 800 number to order flowers 24-7, they wouldn't use credit cards for flowers," he reminisces. He proved them wrong.

Then the Internet was born. 1-800-Flowers was the first retailer on AOL. To coincide with this move, 1-800-Flowers added .com to its name.

Always on the cutting edge of technological innovation, 1-800-Flowers.com has embraced shopping via mobile technology. The application, which offers a wide selection of best-selling gift choices, can be downloaded for free on BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android devices. 1-800-Flowers.com has also expanded into social media, as the first e-commerce business to integrate shopping into its Facebook page, which currently has more than 37,000 followers.

Sure there are roses, tulips, daisies, sunflowers, lilies, and the like, but what is most important is they lead to connections and smiles, McCann affirms. He recently took the idea of connecting one step further by spearheading the idea of having monthly receptions in the company's owned and franchised stores where customers, suppliers, and friends can enjoy a glass of wine and some pickings while browsing.

At a kickoff reception for this program in his flower shop in Carle Place, Long Island, where his corporate headquarters is also based, McCann's warmness and Irish wit blossomed. A master conversationalist, it's amazing to hear him refer to himself as "a recovering shy person." His secret to overcoming shyness? Act like a host.

"When I go to an event, I look for someone who is standing off to the side. I then introduce them to someone else and try to stimulate interesting conversation. When you act like a host, you are too busy thinking about other people's wants to have time to think about your own shyness," he imparts.

Meeting & Motivating

McCann has a special understanding of meetings and incentives. "Recognition is critically important to any organization but particularly to an organization like ours. We are in the business of helping our customers connect with the important people in their lives. Every day in business we help put smiles on people's faces, and we have to be very sensitive in doing that ourselves."

Recognition and praise are inexhaustible resources that cost nothing and buy more goodwill among your employees than anything else will, he adds. Theater tickets, plane rides, dinner for two at high-end restaurants and ethnic nights that celebrate the different nationalities employed at the company are techniques McCann uses with success.

Meetings have taken on added importance, as his 3,200 employees are no longer housed in one building. About 1,500 work from their homes plus the company has 15 production and distribution facilities across the country.

"Meetings, conferences, and merchandising days now play a much more important role in our company as we don't have the same degree of intimate connectivity that we used to have when we were a much smaller company," explains McCann.

Conferences hold a special place in his heart as he has vivid memories of accompanying his dad, president of the New York State Painting and Decorating Contractors Association, to its annual convention. In turn, McCann has taken his children with him to meetings and conferences wherever appropriate.

Not surprising, relationships are core to his definition of success; his relationship with his wife of 36 years, Marylou; his children, 33-year-old daughter Erin who is on a leave of absence from the company as she just had McCann's first grandchild, Abigail; 31-year old James, who works at the Popcorn Factory in Chicago; and 29-year-old Matthew who works at a hedge fund; and relatives, co-workers, and professional peers. "If you measure your success by the quality of your relationships and come away with a lot of check marks in the correct column of the ledger then you are successful," he remarks.

A hero of McCann's is Zig Ziglar, one of the world's top motivators and sales trainers. Motivational audiotapes by Ziglar have been a constant in McCann's life. The two met during a program they were both part of and became friendly. McCann invited Ziglar over for dinner, a treat for his entire family to meet the man behind the voice.

"You can have anything in life you want, if you'll just help enough other people get what they want," is a cornerstone of Ziglar's philosophy and is a guiding light in McCann's life.

He promotes open-book management, insisting that every employee know every aspect of the business. His family is part of the business—his brother Chris is president, a sister is a creative director, and another brother, developmentally disadvantaged, is a grower who works in a greenhouse that employs developmentally challenged workers that was funded by Jim and Chris McCann. With the help of flowers, Jim McCann has helped the goals and dreams of others blossom.

Originally published June 1, 2010

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